Abundance estimates of small mammals in Australian tropical rainforest: a comparison of four trapping methods

I compared the efficacy of terrestrial, arboreal, carnivore, and pitfall trapping methods for censusing small (<3kg) mammals in north-eastern Queensland rainforest, using capture data for 17 rodent or marsupial species (3685 individuals) collected in 1986-87. Terrestrial and arboreal traps had the highest standardised capture rates (>200 animals per 1000 trap-nights), whereas carnivore (83.7 animals per 1000 trap-nights) and pitfall (9.1 animals per 1000 trap-nights) traps were less effective. However, each method was particularly effective for 1-4 species, with factors such as diet, vertical microhabitat use, body size and trap avoidance strongly influencing trappability of different species. Strategies for censusing small mammals in tropical rainforest are discussed.